As a supervisor and in my role at the counselling college I was running, occasionally a student would ask ‘why do I need personal therapy during the training?’ Some had received therapy in the past and others had never been for therapy but when weighing up the cost of training, the potential cost of supervision and all the other expenses involved in the Level 4 Diploma in Counselling it was easy to see why they questioned it.
The answer I would often give when asked would be ‘we can’t be in a clients deep stuff, unless we know ourselves really well’ but thinking about it there are more strands to this particular topic, as counsellors we do need to know ourselves really well, but equally importantly it is key to understand why we feel the way we feel, to help us to separate out our feelings and experiences from that of our clients.
The work we do in our own therapy prepares us working with clients who have maybe been through similar experiences to ourselves, it allows us an insight into sitting in the clients chair and how nerve wracking this can be and it provides student counsellors with a safe space to explore all the buttons that their counselling training will be pressing.
Good counselling training is designed to help explore prejudices, biases and core beliefs, without a space to process all that is coming up for counsellors in training it would be like planting seeds without any soil. Some of the best learning comes from seeing what a therapist does well and on occasion maybe not so well, this insight is a fundamental part of growth.
So, you might be wondering where you start when it comes to finding a counsellor to be alongside you and offer therapy during your training, I would say that this is where it is important to find the right person, look for a counsellor that offers a student rate for therapists in training but don’t just go for the cheapest person as it is important you can go into therapy and be yourself, you don’t want to feel like you need to impress your therapist in some way, you need someone you can be real with; maybe you want someone that doesn’t treat you just as a student counsellor as you are so much more.
It is good to try and work with a therapist that works in a similar modality to how you are being trained, but it is also important that the therapy works for you personally too. Try and search for therapists that offer a free, no obligation meeting so you can see if you are both a good fit for each other, you also don’t have to agree to work with the first counsellor you meet if something feels off, trust your instinct and meet with some others. You are paying the bill, and it is important it feels right.
So, in a nutshell, personal therapy during counselling training is imperative in my opinion and finding the right person to support you through what can be a very challenging time is crucial, you are deserve it, you are important.
This article was written by experienced Counsellor and Supervisor Becky Whittaker. Becky is based in Exeter, Devon but also works online with clients and supervisee’s all over the UK. If you are looking for counselling or supervision please get in touch, Becky offers student rates for counsellors in training at Level 4 and above.